Category Archives: Rule 3.3. Candor toward the tribunal

UTAH STATE BAR
ETHICS ADVISORY OPINION COMMITTEE
OPINION 08-01
PDF Version
DISSENT:
For Main Opinion
1. Dissents from a Utah Ethics Advisory Opinion are understandably rare because of the harmonious working relationship among Ethics Committee members and the shared objective: to provide well-researched and analyzed ethics opinions upon which Utah State Bar members can hopefully rely. It is, therefore, with some trepidation that I dissent from the main opinion. In my view, the main opinion is logically inconsistent with a Tenth Circuit decision that binds Utah lawyers in federal court; incompatible with judicial and ethics opinions in other jurisdictions; and potentially harmful to what I think should be the overriding ideal of all ethics opinions—to ensure justice for clients.

2. To begin, I believe the Committee’s framing of the issue is overly broad. As the Opinion states the issue: “May an attorney provide legal assistance to litigants appearing before tribunals pro se and prepare written submissions for them without disclosing the nature or extent of such assistance?” The Committee’s answer to that question is an unqualified “yes.” Yet, I believe the Committee’s categorical all-or-nothing, black-or-white answer, inclusive of “substantial” with “insubstantial” or quite limited legal services, is ill-advised and contrary to law. To me, the issue is not whether “insubstantial,” unbundled legal assistance for pro se litigants is permissible and ethical. No one has ever disagreed that such assistance is permissible, ethical and encouraged. In fact, Rule 1.2(c) of the Utah Rules of Professional Conduct provides for this type of limited representation.1 Instead, the issue for me, and most jurisdictions that analyze the issue, is whether undisclosed and “substantial” legal assistance, commonly called ghost-lawyering is ethical. Admittedly, the difference between “substantial and “insubstantial” can, in some circumstances, be ambiguous. Presumably, no one would argue that ghost-written appellate briefs or individualized complaints are “insubstantial”— or, to the contrary, that boiler-plate forms available to anyone on the Utah courts web-site (I assume written by lawyers) run afoul of current prohibitions against ghost-lawyering.
3. As described in Nevada Formal Opinion No. 34, issued in 2006,“Ghost-lawyering occurs when a member of the bar gives substantial legal assistance, by drafting or otherwise, to a party ostensibly appearing pro se, with the lawyer’s actual or constructive knowledge that the legal assistance will not be disclosed to the court.”2
4. Citing the same cases and law review articles as does our Committee in Opinion No. 74, the Nevada Opinion, as initially issued, came to an opposite result, concluding, as do I, that “ghost-lawyering is unethical unless the ghost-lawyer assistance and identity are disclosed to the court by the signature of the ghost-lawyer under Rule 11 [the same as Rule 11 of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure] upon every paper filed with the court for which the ‘ghost-lawyer’ gave ‘substantial assistance’ to the pro se litigant by drafting or otherwise.”3
5. From the outset, there appears to be some disparity of perception between the main opinion and me over the potential harm in ghost-lawyering. The Committee writes, “It is not clear to this Committee at what point such a typical pro se party needing limited scope legal help has obtained ‘extensive’ or ‘substantial’ help that appears dishonest. Because over 80% of respondents and 49% of petitioners in divorce cases are unrepresented, these are the typical pro se parties and needed limited assistance of counsel.” The Committee further opines, “Therefore, the ‘unfair advantage’ that pro se parties ostensibly gain through the court’s liberal construction of their pleading—one of the bases for prohibiting ghost-writing—does not appear to apply under Utah law.”(more…)

April 28, 2005
1 Issue: A former client of an attorney moved the trial court to set aside the former client’s previous guilty plea on the basis that the attorney’s prior advice on accepting the prosecution’s plea offer had “confused” him. May the attorney testify concerning the previous discussions with the former client to prevent a possible fraud upon the court or to protect the attorney’s good name and reputation?

2 Opinion: Absent a court order requiring the attorney’s testimony, and notwithstanding a subpoena served on the attorney by the prosecution, the attorney may not divulge any attorney-client information, either to the prosecution or in open court.
3 Facts: The client hired the attorney (the “reviewing attorney”) for the limited purpose of reviewing and advising about a plea offer made by the prosecution to the client in a matter where the client had been charged with a first-degree felony. The client had retained another attorney to represent him at trial (“trial attorney”) for the purpose of entering a guilty plea. The client subsequently moved to set aside the plea of guilty, asserting that he had become “confused” in his discussions with the reviewing attorney, and that the confusion resulted in an improvident entry of a plea of guilty.
4 The prosecution subpoenaed the reviewing attorney to testify regarding the issue of the scope and substance of the attorney’s representation. The reviewing attorney desires to testify, believing that the client may commit a fraud upon the court by misrepresenting their relationship and the advice given. The attorney also wishes to defend and maintain her good name and reputation if the matter is to be heard in open court. The former client has refused to waive his attorney-client privilege, indicating he intends to assert the privilege fully to bar the attorney’s testimony.
5 May the attorney testify regarding matters within the scope or substance of the attorney’s representation? May the attorney discuss the nature of anticipated testimony out of court with the prosecutor?
6 Analysis: The reviewing attorney’s inquiry presents two issues. The first relates to the subject of testimony in a judicial setting and involves the attorney-client privilege under Rule 504(b) of the Utah Rules of Evidence. 1 The question of what an attorney may testify to, or be compelled to testify to, in obedience to a court order is established by an exception to the privilege, either as stated in the evidentiary rules or by judicial precedent. When a former client objects in a judicial proceeding to disclosure of privileged material or information, the decision regarding what the attorney may reveal is one for the court.
7 The second issue relates to the attorney’s ethical requirement of client confidentiality pursuant to the Utah Rules of Professional Conduct, which is a separate and independent obligation. The attorney’s obligation of client confidentiality pursuant to Utah Rule of Professional Conduct 1.6 and loyalty to a former client pursuant to Rule 1.9 must be considered by the attorney in the determination of whether any disclosures may be made to the prosecution during trial preparation. Although there are some similarities between the two principles, they are not the same and should not be confused. 2(more…)

Issued April 28, 2005
1 Issue: What is the ethical responsibility of an attorney serving as defense counsel in a criminal case, when expressly requested by the court at a sentencing hearing for information obtained from or about the defendant regarding the defendant’s prior convictions?

2 Opinion: An attorney may only answer such a query with the client’s informed consent. Otherwise, the attorney must respectfully decline to answer the court’s request in a manner that will not be misleading to the court. The attorney may respond by asserting the client’s right to remain silent, and the attorney’s ethical responsibilities or a by giving a similar explanation that does not disclose client confidences. 1
3 Facts: An attorney represents a defendant in a criminal case. At a sentencing hearing, the court requests information from the attorney regarding the defendant’s prior convictions. The attorney has obtained such information during the course of the representation from conducting an independent investigation or from a confidential communication with the client. After consultation, the client does not consent to the disclosure.4 Applicable Rules:
Rule 1.6—Confidentiality of Information
(a) A lawyer shall not reveal information relating to representation of a client except as stated in paragraph (b), unless the client consents after consultation.
(b) A lawyer may reveal such information to the extent that the lawyer believes necessary . . . . (4) To comply with the Rules of Professional Conduct or other law. 2
5 Rule 3.3—Candor Toward the Tribunal
(c) A lawyer shall not knowingly:
(1) Make a false statement of material fact or law to a tribunal;
(2) Fail to disclose a material fact to a tribunal when disclosure is necessary to avoid assisting a criminal or fraudulent act by a client. 3
6 Rule 8.4—Misconduct
It is professional misconduct for a lawyer to . . . (c) engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation; (d) engage in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration or justice . . . . 4DISCUSSION
7 The issue touches on a fundamental aspect of the attorney-client relationship, namely, confidentiality. A fundamental principle in the client-lawyer relationship is that the lawyer maintain confidentiality of all information relating to the representation. The client is thereby encouraged to communicate fully and frankly with the lawyer even as to embarrassing or legally damaging subject matter. 5 The confidentiality rule applies not merely to matters communicated in confidence by the client but also to all information relating to the representation, whatever its source. 6
8 Information given to an attorney by a client, including the client’s name, address and telephone number, is confidential, and the attorney is prohibited from disclosing such information under Rule 1.6 unless the client consents after consultation. 7 Information provided by an accused to his attorney in an initial telephone conference is confidential, even as against a request for such information by law enforcement authorities seeking to apprehend the accused client. 8 A disclosure of information harmful to the client would be utterly inconsistent with the relationship of trust and confidence protected by Rule 1.6. Thus, Rule 1.6 9 precludes disclosure by the lawyer, whether voluntary or in response to an inquiry from the court, absent informed consent from the client. (more…)

September 30, 2005
HISTORY: On May 6, 2005, the Utah Ethics Advisory Opinion Committee issued Utah Ethics Advisory Op. No. 05-03, 2005 WL 4748681 (Utah St. Bar). The Requestors of the Opinion filed a Petition for Review with the Board of Bar Commissioners pursuant § III(e)(1) of the Ethics Advisory Opinion Committee Rules of Procedure and § VI(a)(1) of the Utah State Bar Rules Governing the Ethics Advisory Opinion Committee. At a meeting of the Board of Bar Commissioners of the Utah State Bar on July 13, 2005, the Commission reviewed the conclusions and analysis of the majority view and the minority view of Opinion No. 05-03, and voted to issue a revised opinion, set forth below as Opinion No. 05-03. The initial Opinion No. 05-03 as originally issued by the Committee is appended in its entirety for historical reference only and should not be cited or used for purposes other than background.
1. Issue: May a lawyer who serves as a domestic relations mediator, following a successful mediation, draft the settlement agreement and necessary court pleadings to obtain a divorce for the parties?

2. Opinion: When a lawyer-mediator, after a successful mediation, drafts the settlement agreement, complaint and other pleadings to implement the settlement and obtain a divorce for the parties, the lawyer-mediator is engaged in the practice of law and attempting to represent opposing parties in litigation. A lawyer may not represent both parties following a mediation to obtain a divorce for the parties.
3. Analysis: The issue considered here was the subject of a prior opinion issued by the Ethics Advisory Opinion Committee in 1992. We have been asked to revisit this issue again because of the expansion and apparent success of divorce mediators in resolving domestic relations matters for pro se litigants for whom the cost of retaining legal counsel may be a serious financial burden. 1
4. Utah Ethics Advisory Opinion 116 considered the following issue: “Under what circumstances may an attorney represent both parties in a divorce?”2 The answer given in Opinion 116 was “never,” based on the clear ethical mandates of Rules 1.7(a) and 1.7(b) of the Utah Rules of Professional Conduct.3 These rules establish a duty of undivided loyalty of counsel to a client.4 Opinion 116 concluded that our rules preclude concurrent representation of clients with directly adverse interests in the matter. Opinion 116 included a lengthy discussion of policy arguments favoring dual representation and policy arguments opposing dual representation in divorce proceedings and concluded that: “The concurrent representation of both parties in a divorce is an ethically unacceptable practice.”5
5. In the 12 years since Opinion 116 was issued, the applicable rules and the arguments bearing upon dual representation in divorce proceedings have not materially changed. The arguably successful and beneficial development of alternative dispute resolution and mediation in the interim does not change our conclusion here. Since the Ethics Advisory Opinion Committee has no policy-making authority, the fact that parties to all lawsuits, including divorces, are increasingly turning to alternative dispute resolution with reportedly positive results to the public and Bar alike cannot alter the clear mandate of our Rules. Whatever the social, financial or other impacts of the alternative dispute resolution trend, and even assuming its worth and inevitability, the ethical rules we are charged to uphold have no “public policy” exceptions that would permit the Ethics Advisory Opinion Committee to rewrite the rules to achieve a result some may believe is beneficial, even if that revision is a carefully reasoned, narrowly crafted exception.6 (more…)

(Approved September 29, 2000)1 Issue: What are the ethical obligations of an attorney who, unaware his client will lie, hears the client commit perjury or otherwise materially mislead a tribunal?

2 Opinion: Counsel who knows that a client has materially misled the court may not remain silent and continue to represent the client; to do so would be “assisting” the client in committing a fraud on the court. Rather, counsel is obligated to remonstrate with the client and attempt to persuade the client to rectify the misleading or untruthful statements to the court. If this is unsuccessful, counsel must seek to withdraw. If withdrawal is denied, counsel must disclose the fraud to the court.
3 Facts: This issue came to the Committee in the narrow setting of a criminal sentencing hearing in which the court asks the lawyer’s client, who is not under oath, about the client’s prior criminal history. The defendant misleads the court and gives false material information that counsel knows to be untruthful. Counsel is now confronted with ethical considerations.Analysis:
A. Counsel may not remain silent and continue to represent the client; to do so would be “assisting” the client in committing a fraud on the court.
4 Rule 3.3(a)(2) provides that “[a] lawyer shall not knowingly . . . fail to disclose a material fact to a tribunal when disclosure is necessary to avoid assisting a criminal or fraudulent act by the client.”1The issue on the facts presented here is whether a lawyer, by remaining silent in response to unanticipated false client testimony not presented by the lawyer, is “assisting” the client in committing a fraud on the court.
5 Ethical dilemmas arising under Rule 3.3 present difficult issues requiring balancing of competing duties. A lawyer’s duty of candor to the court must be balanced against the duty of loyalty to and zealousness on behalf of a client and the duty to maintain confidential client information.2
6 After the adoption of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct by the American Bar Association, the ABA’s Committee on Professional Ethics reconsidered its prior opinions regarding a lawyer’s duties in response to false testimony by a client. In ABA Formal Opinion 87-353, the ABA Committee stated that Model Rules 3.3(a) and 3.3(b) were a “major policy change with regard to a lawyer’s duty . . . when his client testifies falsely. It is now mandatory under [Model Rule 3.3] for a lawyer who knows the client has committed perjury, to disclose this knowledge to the tribunal if the lawyer cannot persuade the client to rectify the perjury.”3That opinion considered the same facts presented here: “judge asks the defendant whether he has a criminal record and he falsely answers that he has none.”4The opinion states that “where the client has lied to the court about the client’s criminal record, the conclusion of Opinion 287 [decided in 1953 under the 1908 Canons of Professional Ethics] that the lawyer is prohibited from disclosing the client’s false statement to the court is contrary to the requirement of Model Rule 3.3. This rule imposes a duty on the lawyer, when the lawyer cannot persuade the client to rectify the perjury, to disclose the client’s false statement to the tribunal . . . .”5(more…)

What are the ethical obligations of an attorney who, unaware his client will lie, hears the client commit perjury or otherwise materially mislead a tribunal?

2 Opinion: Counsel who knows that a client has materially misled the court may not remain silent and continue to represent the client; to do so would be “assisting” the client in committing a fraud on the court. Rather, counsel is obligated to remonstrate with the client and attempt to persuade the client to rectify the misleading or untruthful statements to the court. If this is unsuccessful, counsel must seek to withdraw. If withdrawal is denied, counsel must disclose the fraud to the court.
3 Facts: This issue came to the Committee in the narrow setting of a criminal sentencing hearing in which the court asks the lawyer’s client, who is not under oath, about the client’s prior criminal history. The defendant misleads the court and gives false material information that counsel knows to be untruthful. Counsel is now confronted with ethical considerations.

Analysis:
A. Counsel may not remain silent and continue to represent the client; to do so would be “assisting” the client in committing a fraud on the court.

4 Rule 3.3(a)(2) provides that “[a] lawyer shall not knowingly . . . fail to disclose a material fact to a tribunal when disclosure is necessary to avoid assisting a criminal or fraudulent act by the client.”1The issue on the facts presented here is whether a lawyer, by remaining silent in response to unanticipated false client testimony not presented by the lawyer, is “assisting” the client in committing a fraud on the court.

5 Ethical dilemmas arising under Rule 3.3 present difficult issues requiring balancing of competing duties. A lawyer’s duty of candor to the court must be balanced against the duty of loyalty to and zealousness on behalf of a client and the duty to maintain confidential client information.2

6 After the adoption of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct by the American Bar Association, the ABA’s Committee on Professional Ethics reconsidered its prior opinions regarding a lawyer’s duties in response to false testimony by a client. In ABA Formal Opinion 87-353, the ABA Committee stated that Model Rules 3.3(a) and 3.3(b) were a “major policy change with regard to a lawyer’s duty . . . when his client testifies falsely. It is now mandatory under [Model Rule 3.3] for a lawyer who knows the client has committed perjury, to disclose this knowledge to the tribunal if the lawyer cannot persuade the client to rectify the perjury.”3That opinion considered the same facts presented here: “judge asks the defendant whether he has a criminal record and he falsely answers that he has none.”4The opinion states that “where the client has lied to the court about the client’s criminal record, the conclusion of Opinion 287 [decided in 1953 under the 1908 Canons of Professional Ethics] that the lawyer is prohibited from disclosing the client’s false statement to the court is contrary to the requirement of Model Rule 3.3. This rule imposes a duty on the lawyer, when the lawyer cannot persuade the client to rectify the perjury, to disclose the client’s false statement to the tribunal . . . .”5(more…)

(Approved November 1, 1996)
Issue: May an attorney recover attorney’s fees for a collection action pursued on behalf of the attorney’s partner?

Opinion: There is no prohibition against an attorney’s hiring another attorney to collect the debts of the first attorney, even though the two attorneys are in the same law firm. Whether the second attorney may collect attorney’s fees from the debtor is a question of law that the Committee has no authority to decide. If the debt is incurred in connection with legal services provided by the firm of the two lawyers, Utah case law clearly prohibits the recovery. Under other factual circumstances, such as a debt arising out of a lawyer’s non-legal, personal business, the matter would be judicially resolved, but the lawyer attempting to collect such fees has an ethical obligation under the Rules of Professional Conduct-particularly under Rule 3.3(a)(3)-not to mislead the court as to the attorney’s right to collect such fees.Facts: An attorney seeks to collect a debt that is owed to him personally or to a law firm in which he participates. Under either statute or contract, the attorney-creditor is entitled to collect attorney’s fees in addition to the principal amount of the debt. The original request for this opinion did not state whether the debt was incurred in connection with the lawyer’s (or his firm’s) legal services or for non-legal-service obligations. The attorney wants to have another member of his firm pursue collection, of the debt. He postulates that such an arrangement would be genuine-that is, that the second attorney would indeed do the legal work involved in the collection and the first attorney would not participate. The request did not detail the firm’s financial arrangements for the treatment of firm revenues, payment of firm expenses and the like.
Analysis: Under Utah case law, a lawyer may not collect attorney’s fees in a pro se collection action, and a law firm may not collect attorney’s fees in a collection action in which the firm uses its own lawyers to collect debts of the firm.
In Smith v. Batchelor ,1the Utah Supreme Court held that, for public policy reasons, a pro se litigant should not recover statutorily authorized attorney’s fees, regardless of the litigant’s status as an attorney. More recently, in Jones, Waldo, Holbrook & McDonough v. Dawson,2the court held that a law firm does not “incur” legal fees to be collected when the firm uses its own lawyers to collect the firm’s debts and, therefore, cannot extract them from a debtor even when it is contractually or statutorily provided for.
While the Court’s rulings on these specific fact situations are clear, there are facts that could lead to a different outcome. For example, a lawyer could hire another lawyer in the same firm to collect a personal debt related to the first lawyer’s rental properties. In this case, the firm would not be using its own lawyers to collect on firm debts, as in Jones, Waldo. Still, the Ethics Advisory Opinion Committee cannot opine as to how the Utah Supreme Court’s rulings would be applied in any given factual circumstance different from those on which the Court has ruled in these Batchelor and Jones, Waldo. (more…)